*Please note that this article was financially supported by Accord-UK, but the topic and content was decided on by the C+D editorial team with no input from Accord, who provided the foreword and reviewed the rest of the content for compliance with the ABPI Code of Practice only.

 

Foreword – Mark Butcher, Director, Marketing, Communication & PR at Accord UK

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to challenge and stretch us all. 

It continues to have a huge and ongoing impact on our communities, meaning as an industry we must carry on adapting and innovating.

Now, more than ever, it’s important to take a step back and take some time to really appreciate and recognise UK pharmacy’s incredible role throughout the pandemic.  I’m sure every UK pharmacy has numerous examples of how they have made a positive difference and its these stories we want to hear so we can recognise and celebrate the individuals and teams who continue to make UK pharmacy truly remarkable.

With this in mind, I would urge you to enter this year’s C+D Awards.  To help you make the most of your entry, we have pulled together some top tips below, which we hope will assist you to reflect on your great work and achievements and support you to shine a light on those elements that will really make your awards entry stand out.

Accord UK remain committed to supporting UK pharmacy and are proud to play our part in this year’s C+D Awards.  Good luck to everyone who submits an entry – it’s sure to be an uplifting event to celebrate and remind us all of the reason that we do this.

So, you want to enter the C+D Awards 2021? It can be daunting to put the work of your team or yourself forward, and many people feel uncomfortable about shouting about their achievements. But here’s the good news – by reading this article, you are one step closer to writing a winning entry.

Entering the C+D Awards 2021?

Whether you’re contemplating putting your hat in the ring for Manager of the Year or highlighting a group effort to enter Team of the Year, you may be struggling to find the right words for your entry. To help steer you in the right direction, C+D spoke to former C+D Award winners and judges to find out what makes an award-winning entry.

1 Read the category description and questions carefully – then be specific in your entry

Each category will give precise details about what the judges will be looking for, so make sure that you read the criteria carefully and tailor your entry accordingly.

Graham Phillips is the director of the Manor Pharmacy group, which won Health Initiative of the Year at the C+D Awards 2020. His advice is to make sure your entry reflects the criteria for the category you are entering. He says: “If a category [mentions] public health then you need to point it in that direction and if it says innovation, you emphasise the innovation” in your entry.

It’s important to be very specific in your entry. For example, if the category details ask you to mention how you or your initiative made a difference to your community, it’s important to reference this in your entry.

If you are unsure as to whether your entry is suitable for a certain category, you can email C+D’s editor at [email protected] to make sure.

2 Keep to the point

Although it’s important to tell the judges specific information about yourself or an initiative, don’t waste precious time on writing an overly wordy entry. Try to distil what you are trying to tell the judges into a few sentences, then add more details from there.

Dr Leyla Hannbeck, who is chief executive officer of the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMp) and has been a C+D Awards judge several times, says she is put off entries that use many words when only a few would do. “Something short and sweet that gets to the point makes a candidate stand out,” she says.

3 Tell us what others could learn from you

It’s always important for pharmacy teams to learn from one another – and the C+D Awards is a great way to showcase the crème of what is going on in the sector. So, make sure your entry tells the judges how others could apply what you or your team has done to their own practice.

Academic pharmacist and Royal Pharmaceutical Society English board member Mahendra Patel has been a C+D Awards judge many times. He tells C+D that he wants entrants to show judges how their positive work is “transferable” to other pharmacy professionals and teams.

“Think of the wider scheme of things so that others can come in and be able to translate that and adopt that if they need to,” he advises.

4 Demonstrate how others have benefitted from your work

Tell the judges how your work has helped patients – preferably in their own words. Mr Phillips says it’s important to show “good outcome data” and “patient-centeredness”, so provide specific examples of where you’ve gone the extra mile for patients or share data proving the success of your work.

Dr Patel suggests highlighting how your work could be adopted by other pharmacy teams. “How can you build [the project] so others can help,” he prompts. “It’s something that can be missed but it makes the application much stronger – is the project transferable to other areas?”

5 Share the credit

The saying goes that it’s lonely at the top. But that doesn’t have to be the case.

Dr Hannbeck recommends giving credit where it is due if others have helped you along the path to success. “It’s nice when people refer to their teams – that it’s a team effort – because community pharmacy is a team effort” she says. “Bring in others who are also contributing.”

But remember that it’s OK to highlight your achievements. After all, that’s the whole point of the C+D Awards. Dr Hannbeck encourages more people in the sector to put themselves forward for an award. “There are a lot of people out there who are really unsung heroes,” she says, advising entrants to avoid comparing themselves to others.

“Try it,” she says. “The sector does need people to come forward more and showcase what pharmacy can do.”

6 Consider applying for multiple categories

Unsure as to whether your brilliant new service qualifies you best for Manager of the Year or Business Innovation of the Year? Think about taking a leaf out of Mr Phillips’s book and applying for multiple categories – but only if you meet the right criteria.

“My view is if there are three categories where you could make an argument that you’re relevant, I would enter all three categories,” he advises. “But I would couch that nature of the application differently, so I wouldn’t just write the same thing three times.”

7 Put yourself in the judges’ shoes

When you’re in the throes of writing an awards entry, it’s important to keep in mind the judges at all times. Mr Phillips recommends taking a step back from your work to look at it from an unbiased point of view. “Think about it from the point of view of the external audience,” he says. “So, you’ve got to say, if I was looking at this and I was neutral, would that [point in my entry] be impressive?” If not, think about the language you’re using to describe your achievements – are you underselling yourself?

Dr Hannbeck agrees, advocating looking at your entry from potential judges’ point of view. “If you stand in the shoes of the judges, what would they like to see,” she says.

8 Finally, review your entry

Now that you’re on the way to awards success, don’t fall at the last hurdle by submitting an entry that is littered with errors. “People often don’t go back and review [their entries],” warns Dr Patel. Give yourself plenty of time to write your entry so you can come back later to re-read it with fresh eyes.

Still stuck?

If you’re still seeking inspiration, subscribe to the C+D Daily Newsletter.

Over the coming weeks we will be sharing a series of insightful stories about our 2020 winners. These stories will be published on the C+D website, so keep an eye out. It may also be worthwhile taking a look at our 2020 winners and shortlisted entries. If you need some assistance uploading your entry, visit our FAQs page or contact us.

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Date of Prep: May 2021

*Please note that while Accord UK has sponsored this article, the main body of this article is editorially independent and was written by the C+D editorial team